For 45 years it has been my practice to see a movie on the Christmas holiday. There have been plenty of stinkers, a number of films that were excellent but not really appropriate for the season, and several films encapsulated exactly what I was looking for for the holiday. Hooray, we have one of those films to talk about this year. Song sung Blue is an audience-pleasing, old-fashioned, music filled heart Tugger but I think the vast majority of the public will be happy to embrace it.
This film is apparently based on a documentary feature, so it is for the most part a true story, although there certainly have been liberties taken in developing it as a drama. The premise seems a little outlandish, but the longer I live in this world the more I discover that there are subcultures to which I am not privy, which thrive and run deep. So I suppose it should not surprise me that music impersonators have a sizable audience and their own sets of rules. However even if you are not part of that audience, you can enjoy this film because you know the songs and they are presented with great sincerity.
Mike Sardina is a somewhat successful impersonator, who is dissatisfied with doing short bits of other singers, and dreams of finding an act that will allow him to interpret something meaningful at least to him. When he encounters Claire, another impersonator, and she suggests a performer that he might be inspired by, well it is the start of a romance and a new show for both of them. Mike always builds himself as” Lightning”, and he dubs Claire “
Thunder” and together they construct a Neil Diamond interpretation and tribute show.
There's a lot of fun to be had as the two of them struggle to get things right, and convince hesitant Casino owners, restaurant venues, and other entertainment outlets to give them the chance to show the world what Neil Diamond means. Hugh Jackman is Mike, and his performance is highlighted by and strengthened through the songs that he lends his voice to. We all know that Hugh Jackman can sing, he's been a Broadway musical performer, and he has sung in cinematic musicals a couple of times, including an Academy Award nomination for “Les Miserables”. I think it might be a bigger surprise to discover that Kate Hudson, who plays Claire, has just as effective a voice as Jackman. In many ways her story is the more compelling one as part of this endeavor. Frankly Kate Hudson steals the movie.
Naysayers may simply think that this is a karaoke Musical, and not worthy of much attention. I however am not snobby about being entertained, and if someone can sing well and present the songs in an entertaining way, I'm going to be satisfied. When you add on to that a very nice romance story, and a couple of tragic story arcs, you get a film that might be a little melodramatic, but that doesn't make it worthless. Maybe it is just another Underdog Story, but it's about underdogs in a different culture, and one that happens to be very interesting.
That the movie is bittersweet is not a drawback but rather a reflection of the old fashioned nature of Storytelling, which director Craig Brewer seems to be adept at. This is a movie that is made for adults, and it has some slightly mature moments, but it is not bawdy in a way teens would be inappropriate to include in the audience. This may not be a four quadrant Breakout but there are a couple of quadrants that will embrace this movie with open arms, and I happen to be in one of them.
You are also likely to be singing along with several of the songs, because after all the Neil Diamond catalog is pretty well known. Even those songs that are going to be less familiar will be appealing because of the way they are presented by the stars of this movie. It is not an Earth shaking cinematic accomplishment, it just does what we used to want from the movies, emotional satisfaction and entertainment. This is probably going to go on my list of the better films of 2025.
